BLOG RECAP#2: notes to future self

I'm slightly concerned that my future self will read this blog and have an entirely false picture of what my life was like in my late 20s. So I'd like to clear up some inaccuracies here.

This may help me avoid becoming like my grandfather, who tells these wild stories that incorporate the experiences of various friends and family. For example, he tells people that my grandmother and he went to Honduras to teach indigenous communities how to grow coffee to sell to Starbucks. This one combines his life + mine + cousin Laura + brother-in-law Chad. His stories are pretty awesome, though. He's on this kick of describing multiple instances of killing mountain lions with just a pocket knife--awesome, Pop-Pop!

So, Future Self, here's the truth:

1. The reason you started this blog is mainly 3-fold: First, you bought a new receiver--the first real stereo system you ever owned. Suddenly, all music sounded incredible. Listening to just the first bar of Radiohead's "Let Down" gave you goosebumps. This made you feel really lame for listening to the same Wu-Tang Clan album on your ipod every day for six months. So you were inspired to listen to new music.

Second, when you turned 28, your biological clock started ticking like crazy. You realized there were only a few more years of staying out late and wasting time reading music blogs before the babies came.

Third, E got an i-mac from school. You see, Future Self, in 2008, Bill Gates still ruled the world, and owning your first mac was life-changing. Blogging was a good excuse to use this beautiful little white machine.

2. It appears that you listened to a lot of new music, but really none of it was new. In early 2008 you "discovered" everything that was new and hip in 2006 and 2007.

3. It also appears that you listened only to new indie artists, but truthfully, you kept a couple of Wu-Tang Clan and Sufjan Stevens songs on your ipod.

4. You weren't overstating your obsession with Beirut. If fact, you listened to them on repeat, non-stop for weeks and planned trips to Paris to see them, as that would be the ideal context for a Beirut concert. This surpassed 2006's obsession with Snow Patrol. I know, right? What's Snow Patrol? They were this cute little Scottish/Irish band that wrote an album that was one long apology for screwing over some ex-girlfriend. And even though you couldn't relate to this experience, the passion and sincerity of the album really spoke to you.

Also, you were indeed that obsessed with the Wire season four, the NY Times and the Wu-Tang Clan. You pretty much could relate any experience to one of these three things and had to edit yourself so as not to exhaust your friends with these constant references. Oh, and back in the day, there was this thing called a hipster. Look it up.

5. Further to Beirut, you thought that Zach Condon was really cute. You felt guilty about this. Oh no, not because you were married, but because you were afraid that one day you'd meet Sufjan Stevens, and he'd be like, "I'm not your indie boy crush anymore, am I?" He could see the guilt in your eyes!

6. E thinks you were too tough on the band Switches. At that point, you were into lo-fi, dirty vocals stuff, so if you were to like a polished, poppy British band, it had to be really danceable.

7. In 2008, all your progressive friends were obsessed with Obama, and you were like, "Hey, guys, I'm down with 'Bama," but the truth is you voted for Hillary. Oh, and guess why you voted for Hillary? Because she's a woman! Yes, Future Self. You were that shallow in your 20s; but back in 2008, the idea of a woman president was really exciting. Also, you were secretly sad when the Pats lost the Super Bowl, though you would never admit this, lest you lose any Eagles fan credibility.

8. Karaoke was not a significant part of your life.